The present invention relates to a method for operating contact-less identification media in a system with contact applications for contact cards, a converter module for contact-less communication and an installation having contact-less communication with contact-less identification media. Contact card systems with contact identification media are widely utilized and are known for various applications, e.g., as access cards for certain zones within a company, for time management, as access media for the use of devices, e.g., data facilities, as credit cards and also as check or value cards for obtaining various types of services.
Increasingly, there is the requirement or the demand to also be in a position to utilize contact-less identification media in such contact card systems, in order to be able to exploit their great advantages above all with respect to handling, as well as with regard to possible extensions of applications.
For this purpose, up until the present moment, a contact-less RF—application with RF—reading stations for contact-less communication had to be integrated into the system. This calls for a communication interface to the existing contact system in the host and to local control devices of the contact applications at the read/write stations, the specific commands of the RF—reading stations have to be programmed, and the physical integration of the RF—system, including power supply terminals, has to be implemented.
With this, the effort and expenditure for additional RF—reading stations of this kind becomes relatively great and correspondingly expensive.
Another possibility for the introduction of contact-less identification media is the utilization of hybrid media, which contain both communication types. Here, in principle, a contact card for a contact communication system is integrated into a card in the format of the contact card with a contact-less identification system for contact-less communication. Hybrid cards of this kind, with a dual function, however, are sophisticated and relatively expensive. In addition, the problem of servicing and maintaining two different systems in the host still remains.